What is
the cry of true faith? It is a two-fold cry. One, we cry for Christ to do
something for us outwardly before God’s righteous law.Two, we cry for Christ to do something for us
inwardly due to our sin-nature. We see this in our text.

The cry
of true faith is for Christ to plead our
cause with our enemies—Psalms 35: 1: Plead my cause, O LORD, with
them that strive with me:fight
against them that fight against me. 2:
Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. 3: Draw out also the spear, and stop the
way against them that persecute me:

The cry
of true faith is for Chris to work effectual within us—Psalm 35: 3…say unto my soul, I am thy salvation—that is how
he gave us faith to call on him in the first place and that is how he
strengthens our faith in him throughout our life.

Proposition:
The cry of faith is for Christ to undertake to plead our cause before God and
to be our salvation in our hearts.

OUR GREATEST ENEMY

How are
sinners brought to cry this cry of faith?Well, sinners have many enemies from which we cannot save ourselves. But
the first enemy God reveals to us is our greatest enemy, our sin.

Will you
listen to God speak? Will you look into his word with me and together let’s see
what God says?This is God’s word to you
and to me. If you can’t turn to these write them down. If you want the notes
send me an email and I will send them to you:

What does
God say about our sin before his holy and
righteous law?

Romans 3: 10:
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Job 15:14: What is man, that he should be clean? and he
which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? 15: Behold, he putteth
no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. 16: How
much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

Job 25:4: How then can man be justified with God? or how
can he be clean that is born of a woman? 5Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure
in his sight. 6How much less man, that
is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

Does God
say we can justify ourselves if we start keeping the law? No. The law is only
to reveal our sin and declare us all guilty.

Romans 3: 19:
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God. 20: Therefore by the
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law
is the knowledge of sin.

Galatians 3: 21:
Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there
had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should
have been by the law. 22: But
the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe.

There are
two scriptures that declare that when God gave the law, saying, “If you do this, then you shall live” it
did not mean that man had the ability to do it: “for by the law is the
knowledge of sin.” (Ro 3:19-20); “if there had been a law given which could
have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.” ‘(Ga
3:21-22)

Well then
if the promise of salvation is only by believing then we must be able to
believe when we will?No, we have a
second problem with our sin, it is in our nature. What does God say about our
sin in our nature? What has sin done to us? It has ruined us totally.God says,

Romans 3: 11: There is none that understandeth, there is none that
seeketh after God. 12:They are all
gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that
doeth good, no, not one.

Psalm 14:2: The LORD looked down from heaven upon the
children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3:
They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that
doeth good, no, not one.

Someone
will say, “But I see lots of people doing good things?” But fellow sinners do
not set the bar. No one is righteous and holy as God! And that is how righteous
and holy we have to be.

But surely,
by our will we can hear the gospel and believe on Christ when we get ready
too!Will you listen to God speak in his
word? I pray God give you ears to hear right now.

1 Corinthians 2: 14: But the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This is
not just some isolated scripture—this is the message throughout the bible. We all
come forth spiritually dead in our nature.

Ephesians 2: 1:
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience: 3:
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others.

By being
born of Adam’s corrupt seed, we come forth with a will that is in bondage to
our sin-nature so we only do what our sin nature dictates.

Romans 6:20…ye were the servants of sin…and ye were free from righteousness.

If man
has a will capable of calling on Christ whenever he will or capable of
resisting God when he will, why then did Christ himself declare that we must be
born again and that the new birth is sovereign and irresistible as the wind?Christ said,

John 3: 6:
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. 7: Marvel not that I
said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8:
The wind bloweth where it listeth, [where it will] and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every
one that is born of the Spirit.

Why is it
a necessity that we be born again of the Holy Spirit? Christ said, John 3: 6: That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit. Now compare that with Romans 8.

Romans 8: 5:
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they
that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Those born
of flesh only have a will to reject the truth of the Holy Spirit but those born
of the Spirit are given a will to only believe the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8: 6:
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is
life and peace.

There is
no greater peace and joy than to be born again of the Holy Spirit and made
willing to submit to God’s word and believe on Christ.But why is the carnal mind death?

Romans 8: 7:
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8:
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Hebrews
11: 1 says the only way to please God is by faith in Christ.But by nature, the carnal mind hates the true
and living God of the Bible, will not and cannot submit to God’s word. He loves
only the idol god of his carnal imagination. But when born of the Spirit of
Christ, listen to this good news.

Romans 8: 9: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10: And if Christ be in you, the body
is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Our old
nature is the same, dead; but the Spirit in the new nature is life because of
Christ our Righteousness. So repeatedly God says in his word that life and faith
in Christ is, not of ourselves, not of our works, but is the gift of God by his
free and sovereign grace.

Titus 3: 3For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish,
disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and
envy, hateful, and hating one another. 4But after that the
kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost; 6Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour; 7That being justified by his grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Ephesians 2: 4: But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us, 5: Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)…8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9: Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10: For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them.

Faith in
Christ is one of those good works. God ordained before the foundation of the
world that all his people shall walk in faith. So at the predestinated time, the
Holy Spirit of God quickens us in regeneration and gives us faith in Christ—Gal 4: 6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. By God’s own workmanship we are given a
new will to walk by faith in Christ—Psalm
110: 3: Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of
the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The sure result is this: the
sinner ceases boasting in his will and starts boasting in Christ who gave him a
new will. And for his people to give God in Christ all the glory is the reason
God saves this way.

1 Corinthians 1: 29:
That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30: But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31: That, according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

You would
think all men who claim to be Christians would want the triune God to have all
the glory and sinners to have no room to glory in self. But sadly, it is not
so. Many worship and boast in their will and works rather than Christ’s. The
entire world is made up of the religion of Abel and Cain. Abel’s glory in God’s
will and God’s works by which we are saved by grace; the Cains worship man’s
will and man’s works

The
religion of Isaac and Ishmael: Isaacs are sons born of God; Ishmaels are born
by the will and works of men.

Galatians 4: 29: But as then he that was born after the
flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is
now.

This,
along with our old man of sin, is why believers never cease needing Christ to
preserve us in faith. This is why in our text, at the end of verse 3, the
Psalmist cries, “say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.” (Ps 35:3) This
is how we were given faith in Christ in the first hour and this is how the
believer’s faith is preserved and strengthened, by Christ continually speaking
into our soul, saying, “I am thy salvation.”

Christ
said to some, John 10: 26: But ye believe
not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.He did not say ye are not my sheep
because ye believe not. If he said that it would mean a man could become one of
Christ’s sheep by his own will by believing whenever he got ready. But Christ
said, ye believe not, because ye are not my sheep. And he explains what he
meant. “My sheep hear my voice” when he says, “I am thy salvation.” “and
I know them” he knows us when he speaks this into our soul. And the irresistible
result is “and they follow me: And I give
unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand.” (Jo 10: 27-29)He said “but ye believe not,
because ye are not my sheep” because if ye were my sheep I would have made
you hear my voice in your inner man and you would have believed on me and
followed me.

So those
who were not his sheep picked up rocks to stone him and so it is for the
believer, today. We are persecuted sometimes by even our own loved ones simply because
we believe the word of God.Yet,
opposition is used of God to keep his child crying to Christ alone to plead our cause with them that strive
against us. It is to keep us believing on Christ alone who is our
Salvation. So the cry of true faith is, Ps
119:154: Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.

True,
God-given faith believes Christ’s word that he is the great I AM—I AM THY SALVATION! Believer cry out to Christ to plead your cause with them that
strive against you and to speak into your heart. He is the great I AM. Christ
promises:

John 6: 35: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me
shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst….

John 8: 12: I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 10: 7: I am the door of the sheep. 8:…by me if any
man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

John 10: 14: I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15: As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the
sheep.

John 15: 5: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He
that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for
without me ye can do nothing.

John 11: 25:
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live: 26: And
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

John 14: 6: I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.

When he
says “I am the way, the truth and the
life’ it means we cannot look to Christ to plead our cause and at the same time look to self. We
either trust Christ as the way, the truth, and the life by casting all our cause into his hands or we call him a
liar and look to our will and our works to save us. We see an example of this faith
in David.

Saul came
with three thousand men to kill David. They entered a cave and slept while David
and his men were in that cave against the walls. His men said this is what God
promised to deliver Saul to your will.But
what is the new will that God puts in his regenerated child? David would not
kill Saul because he was God’s anointed. Instead, David trusted his cause into
the hands of Christ:

1 Samuel 24: 12:
The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine
hand shall not be upon thee….14:
After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a
dead dog, after a flea. 15: The
LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my
cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.

When we
truly own ourselves to be as helpless as a dead
dog and a flea then we will submit all into Christ’s hand to plead our
cause.

And this
faith is by having Christ the Faithful formed in us. Our Psalm is first and foremost
Christ in perfect faith casting all his cause into the hands of the LORD his
Father when he was surrounded by his enemies on the cross.

1 Peter 2: 23:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened
not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24: Who his
own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to
sins, should live unto Righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

The
righteousness of God is manifest by the faith of Christ. He conquered the devil
and fulfilled the righteousness and love of the law—not by force of power—but
by committing all into God the Father’s hand as he suffered and bled in place
of his people. And he committed all his
cause—not part—all his cause entirely
unto God that judgeth righteously while he bore our sins and our stripes on the
cross.

Isaiah 50: 6:
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair:
I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7: For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be
confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall
not be ashamed.

Do you
know this believer?When Christ took the
form of the servant of God, unlike those who worship their will and their
works, Christ did not defend his will or even claim his will was free.

John 5:30: I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear,
I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the
will of the Father which hath sent me.

John 6: 38:
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that
sent me. 39: And this is the
Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

So
brethren, having faith by Christ being formed in us, by Christ speaking “I am
thy salvation”, let us cease boasting in our will, cease trying to plead our
own cause, cease defending our selves. We could not believe and neither can
those who persecute. Let us commit all into Christ’s hand in true faith.

Micah 7: 5: Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not
confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy
bosom. 6: For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against
her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are
the men of his own house. 7: Therefore
I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will
hear me. 8: Rejoice not against
me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall
be a light unto me. 9: I
will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until
he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the
light, and I shall behold his righteousness. 10: Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and
shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes
shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

Psalm 37:5: Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in
him; and he shall bring it to pass.